My art and me

Il Ritorno 62,5cm x 53cm, mixed materials on jute

Sicily since ever is the land of landowners and modest farmers  - old, rich soil that not always has nourished its inhabitants.
Caltabellotta, my main subject with its small streets and corners, its incredible position on 900m height so close to the sea, its olive groves, orange trees, its flowers in spring and its steppes in summer, with its simple people but wise philosophers, people, closely intertwined with their small piece of old ground, represents for me the essence of Sicily.
 
My pictures are omage to these people and to Caltabellotta, this village that you only can love or hate, and my love is expressed already in the choice of material. I use everything that nature and surroundings offer: sawdust from our carpentry, sea sand, shells, stones, flowers, fruit stands, jute, sisal, bread paper, and even hair, olive kernels, palm fiber etc. Even the framing of the paintings that were created with ancient, worm-eaten beams that once were roof and protection, now are part of this liege concept.
 
Thus are my pictures. My life itself, not least through the technique that I have developed. The use of these materials become structures, sometimes barely recognizable, embedded in acrylic paint and highlighted by intense colors. My paintings are impressionist works seeming often more like sculptures, particularly in the trilogy, "Donna", realized in modern art where sea snails and precious handicrafts, made by the local women for their daughter’s dowry, grow almost out of the canvas.
 
Some paintings, specially for my books for children, have arisen on the PC, becoming "real" only after printing. I could not resist this medium and all the options, which provides the appropriate software. A good exercise in patience on my old computer.
 
Patience is what I have learned in Sicily, curiosity and loving experimentation, however, were probably a gift. Born in 1958 and grown up in a simple working-class family in which, however, creativity was important. Encouraged by my move in 1992 to Sicily, where total flexibility and imagination constitute a must to survive, I have also learned to appreciate the bad times, and so, after 17 years I had to turn back to brushes and colors, because Sicily is pure inspiration.
 
Kornelia Fischer-Benfari